Group items tagged

"Author Nancy Foasberg, looks into the use of E-Readers on a college campus. This article was published in the September 2011 issue of Information Technology and Libraries. To learn whether e-book readers have become widely popular among college students, this study surveys students at one large, urban, four-year public college. The survey asked whether the students owned e-book readers and if so, how often they used them and for what purposes. Thus far, uptake is slow; a very small proportion of students use e-readers. These students use them primarily for leisure reading and continue to rely on print for much of their reading. Students reported that price is the greatest barrier to e-reader adoption and had little interest in borrowing e-reader compatible e-books from the library. "

"After you create your syllabus, go back to and take a closer look at your learning outcomes for the course. As you read through the outcomes, write a discussion question related to each outcome. For example, suppose you teach a political science course and one of your learning outcomes is, "Students will be able to discuss current issues in political science informed by popular media and scholarly evidence." Now take that learning outcome and write a discussion question. "

"The number of college students who say they own tablets has more than tripled since a survey taken last year, according to new poll results released today. The Pearson Foundation sponsored the second-annual survey, which asked 1,206 college students and 204 college-bound high-school seniors about their tablet ownership. The results suggest students increasingly prefer to use the devices for reading. One-fourth of the college students surveyed said they owned a tablet, compared with just 7 percent last year. Sixty-three percent of college students believe tablets will replace textbooks in the next five years-a 15 percent increase over last year's survey"

Very interesting change in student ownership of tablets - and attitudes about textbooks.

It is very difficult to predict trends in edu tech with accuracy but if there is one safe bet, it is that tablets will soon dominate the campus scene, and print is on the way out.

Summary of Results This summary highlights the major conclusions from a nationally representative online poll of 1,214 college students and 200 college-bound high school seniors in the United States. The Pearson Foundation Survey on Students and Tablets was conducted by Harris Interactive from March 8 through 31, 2011. The major conclusions are as follows: 1. College students believe that tablet computers will transform learning. 2. A majority of students in both college and high school are interested in owning a tablet. 3. College students who own tablets believe that the devices are valuable for educational purposes. 4. On average, students prefer print over digital format for both textbooks and leisure reading. Students who own tablets, however, are far more likely to favor digital books over print. Since

I have always wanted to have my own blog.  I even tried a book blog once, but I couldn't read fast enough to blog often enough.  There's nothing worse than a blog that is only updated once a month!  Bill Carozza has inspired me to try again, but this time on something I do everyday and professionally.  Check out this article for a few good reasons educators should blog.

I like the point about designing engaging activities using problem - solving: "Instead of a series of click-and-read screens, give the learner a problem to solve. Then provide all of the information that you would normally have pushed by creating access to additional, just-in-time resources. As the learner attempts to solve the problem, she'll pull the information she needs." Perhaps this is how we should be using Articulate Engage - to present problems with potential solutions... Food for thought!

This article discusses research on students' ability to read text presented online. It provides some good food for thought in designing our courses, especially the content-heavy courses. Should we be encouraging more page breaks? What do you think?

"The Rental Phenomenon In the past two years, the post-secondary textbook rental market has exploded. Driven by the outcry over book prices, federal legislation, readily available pricing information on the Internet, and sophisticated web-based rental management platforms, old and new competitors are disrupting the $10 billion college textbook business. Book rental isn't really a new phenomenon-a few college stores have been renting books since the Civil War. The National Association of College Stores (NACS) proclaimed fall 2010 as the "Year of the Rental." Players include long-timers like Follett and Budgetext, institutional stores and fast-growing start-ups. BookRenter, started in 2008, netted $40 million from investors in a funding round this past February. Chegg, started in 2007, has raised $200+ million in venture capital and attracted senior management from Yahoo and Netflix. The same drivers are growing trade in used books, eBooks, and online instructional content. Rental is also driving new business models for sourcing and distributing educational materials that may carry the industry forward into digital. Having book inventory isn't necessarily required-at least one high-flying firm, BookRenter, exists mainly as an online marketplace. Read on to see how this change in distribution is impacting the higher education market. Next month we'll look at what all this means for K-12."

"College technology went on the move in the 2010-11 academic year, venturing into mobile platforms like smartphones and tablets such as the iPad. The devices were used within classes and without for teaching, reading texts, student affairs, contacting alumni, and recruiting prospective students. But the movement-driven by the recognition that people were spending more time on mobile devices-went in fits and starts. Higher education, never a rapid adapter, struggled to figure out how best to make use of mobile devices and new capabilities."

"U of C Student Success Centre Goes Mobile Students at the University of Calgary can stay connected to services offered by their Student Success Centre (SSC) with a new custom mobile application. The application allows students to read recent news, to register for workshops or seminars, to book appointments with advisors, writing tutors, career and academic development specialists, and to access the SSC events calendar 24/7. "We are committed to effective communication with students and to making it easy for them to access the programs and services we offer," says Joel Wilkinson, Director of the Student Success Centre. "Most students do almost everything online and our new application will allow them to stay connected with the resources and events available to support their path to success." The application was developed by the company 4abyte Inc., which was founded by Charles Newton Price, a recent U of C graduate student. "We were pleased to be part of this project," says Charles. "Given the prominent presence of smartphones on campus, going mobile has become indispensible for post-secondary institutions." SSC's sharp, attractive, and easy application, available for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry Torch devices, adds to the University of Calgary's steps to remain at the forefront of student engagement. The application is available for download on iTunes (iPhone only) or via the SSC website at: http://ucalgary.ca/ssc "

Discusses the success of using peer-instruction during lecture time to help students solidify concepts.

Wow - this goes against all we learned about Plain language / easy-to-read fonts etc. Good food for thought. Not sure if my experience agrees - but it sure makes me re-think.

You have to read this one - it's a pretty good prank! Happy April Fools